


two halves of the same heart

by savebellamy



Category: Queen of the South (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, also major SPOILERS for the first three seasons, and saw that they actually DID touch each other skin-to-skin, idk this is kinda weird i wrote it a while ago in like 45 minutes and i figured... why not?, im pretty sure i didnt post this because i rewatched, like WAY before a lot of this shit goes down, so lol it doesnt all really line up but thats fine because this is my fantasy world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 20:57:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19838380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savebellamy/pseuds/savebellamy
Summary: She finds out like this: On the day of her communion, that fateful day, that disastrous eve, her mother takes her small cheeks in her soft hands, and tells her, “Teresita, there are people in this world that will complete you.” Teresa doesn't know what she means. “These people are called alma gemelas. They are your other half. You may love them, you may hate them, but you will be connected,” she takes her left hand, the one with her gold band slipped onto the ring finger, and points right into Teresa’s heart, “Through your hearts, your souls.”





	two halves of the same heart

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first ever QOTS fic and it's not horrible so... i hope you enjoy!

She finds out like this:  
  
On the day of her communion, that fateful day, that disastrous eve, her mother takes her small cheeks in her soft hands, and tells her,  
“Teresita, there are people in this world that will complete you.” Teresa doesn't know what she means. “These people are called _alma gemelas_. They are your other half. You may love them, you may hate them, but you will be connected,” she takes her left hand, the one with her gold band slipped onto the ring finger, and points right into Teresa’s heart, “Through your hearts, your souls.”  
  
Of course, to six-year-old Teresa Mendoza, a romantic at heart, has to ask, “ _¿Como tu y papa?_ ” Her mother smiles her glowing smile and she caresses her daughter’s cheeks once more, for the last time.  
  
“S _í, mi amor_ ,” she leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to Teresa's forehead. “You will know them the moment you touch.”  
  
And Teresa nods, suddenly growing very eager to meet this _alma gemela_ of hers. The person who will complete her.  
  
The thing is, everything comes crashing down right after. So Teresa doesn't have time to think about _alma gemelas_. She just has to survive.  
  
Then, she meets Guero. And she's so sure that it's him. How could it not be? She's never been treated so much like a queen before, exactly like she's always wished a man would treat her. His faded green eyes tell that he's a little broken, but that only lures her in more, because she's a little broken, too. He smiles at her like she's the only thing that makes him happy, and she looks at him the very same, because it's true.  
  
It's not clear if she knew the moment they touched for the first time, it just felt like any normal touch. Except he had just saved her, taking down that _cabron_ with his bare hands in a parking lot in Sinaloa and that's what mattered. That's what the spark came from.  
  
Every time they share a gaze, every time they come so close together there's no telling where she ends and he begins, every time they kiss, and especially every time they touch.  
It's magic.  
  
Guero Davila is her _alma gemela_.  
  
But her mother never told her what it felt like when _alma gemelas_ die. She couldn't even tell the difference until she found out: on the phone with a man she didn't know, telling her that Guero has been killed. The only thing she remembers is a brutal crack right down the middle of her heart, the air was stripped from her lungs. But all she could do was run. Primal instinct. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to live in a world without Guero, but she couldn't help but flee to safety.  
  
Of course, we all know it isn't really safe in this world. And especially not for a drug dealer’s girlfriend. They call her his _morra_. She knows better. She keeps her mouth shut.  
  
Except when Camila Vargas finds her, drags her to Dallas, tries to use her against the very man Teresa is running from, and orders her to be disposed of, she has to offer the only thing she has left: herself. _Alma gemelas_ don't matter anymore. She's just a mule for the Vargas cartel, even after all she's been through: _pinche Gato, pinche Don Epifaño_. God has a terrible sense of humor, she thinks. First her parents, then Guero, and it'll be her next.  
  
Then she meets James.  
  
He's really not much at first, just another criminal among the rest (though, she supposes that's kind of unfair considering Guero is- was a criminal, too), and he's Camila’s right hand nonetheless. He can't be trusted, and he sure as hell isn't liked. All those dead, drugged up girls in the warehouse. She was going to become one of them. Because of him.  
  
And yet its also because of him that she doesn't end up like Aveline, so she guesses she kind of owes him one for the soap thing. She may only be looking out for herself and Brenda and Tony, but she's fair. As long as he is.  
  
It's kind of funny, the mysterious ways in which God works, because during Teresa's time working for Camila through the warehouse, doing runs and business with James and _pinche_ deliveries, they don't touch, not even once, except maybe with a barrier of clothing between them. A few layers of thread, though, can make all the difference in the world.  
  
And between Teresa and her subconscious, while he’s annoying and untrustworthy, he's kind of charming. Especially when she meets his girlfriend.  
Kim is beautiful and kind, and is clearly being treated well by James, just like Teresa was with Guero. It's why she sees some of herself in Kim: smart and well-kept, but completely unaware of the dangers that lie in the business. Sooner or later, something will happen. Teresa doesn't know what, and really, she doesn't know if. But they look at each other like love is stronger than any of that, though.  
  
The two of them, they're definitely _alma gemelas_ , Teresa is sure. And her heart aches for the past.  
  
She thinks about it later, and maybe she also sees some of Guero in James, the same way with herself and Kim. But she scolds herself, because they're two completely different men, and she hates herself for even thinking to compare them. The man she loves- and a stranger. They're not even close. Her and her stupid thoughts, dangerous emotions. They're disregarded, they mean nothing.  
  
But they continue to save each other's lives, and that does mean something. Sure, maybe it's business, but she could be replaced at any given time, even if she is leverage against Epifaño. There’s always more dirt to dig. Camila could find something else. James probably already has orders to get rid of her as soon as she has dug deep enough.

And yet.  
  
And yet she does start to trust James. His loyalty to Camila and only Camila is obvious, and he’d never do any special favors for Teresa if the two sides crossed, but he does enough. Little white lies, and that in turn of course means protection. Mostly for Teresa, against Camila. He says, “what she doesn't know can't hurt her, or us,” and it's hard not to trust him then. It's hard not to feel a lot safer with him in the room.  
  
But it gets harder.  
  
She has to kill a man, and she's being forced to let an innocent woman and her son be killed because of her. Her hands are tied, she doesn't have options.  
  
But… but she does. She just needs the book--Guero’s protection from it all. Her _alma gemela_ ’s protection. Even after his death.  
  
And James of course comes after her. He almost finds her, too. Always so close yet so far.  
  
After it’s over, she really feels the difference. Camila has the book, Teresa has her trust and protection, and James… James lied to Camila about the maid.  
  
“We’re in this together.”  
  
And when Brenda is killed by El Limpiador, and they deliver an almost-innocent man to his demise, he holds her while she cries. Through shirts, through jackets. They still never touch, but Teresa doesn't know that, and when Guero comes back, she’s even further from figuring it out.  
  
When they first found each other, she and Guero, she was a little broken like him, and he was a little broken like her, but now… she's not the same kind of broken: innocent broken, ignorant broken.  
  
Now, she’s guilty. She's dirty. She's no better than Epifaño or Camila, their hands are full of the same blood.  
  
This Guero looks like the same man, but he doesn't feel like it. He left her, but the man she remembers…  
  
She has to get it though her head that they are the same. Guero before and Guero now are both the man who left her with a book that instead of guaranteeing her protection, painted a target on her forehead.  
  
But he saves her life from the cops, and James saves both of them, and well… they need Guero’s help. That's all there is to it. It's just business now.  
  
Camila asks if she knew he was alive, and for once it's easy to tell the truth. Then, she orders James out of the room and tells her this:  
  
“Did you know, Teresa, that Epifaño is my soulmate?” And that's the first time since her mother all those years ago that she's heard it said out loud.  
The information doesn't shock her, but then she can't understand the war between them. Alma gemelas-- _soulmates_ \--aren’t supposed to go to war.  
  
“Why are you telling me this?” she asks Camila, because there's clearly an angle being worked here. She wants Teresa to do something.  
  
“I am telling you this because your relationship with that rat is making you into the stupid girl I know you aren't.” Teresa doesn't know what to do with that, but now it’s clear that Guero isn't safe here. And although it's hard to love him, she’d never want him dead.

“Epifaño and I are soulmates, and yet… here we are,” she holds up her arms to gesture around the elegant safehouse. James standing guard outside, awaiting her command. Teresa at her mercy, Guero as good as dead for being a snitch.  
  
“Just because you are someone's other half doesn't mean you will be able to find peace together,” Camila says. “We are all selfish beings. It only makes war more tactical. And knowing each other’s every move--there are good things and bad things about that.”  
  
“Why would you think we're soulmates?” Teresa asks. Camila doesn't exactly have proof, not if even Teresa herself doesn't.  
  
Camila folds her arms, and lifts an eyebrow. “I know them when I see them.”  
  
So that's it. Teresa has at least some confirmation of what she always knew. All these years… she was right about them. Soulmates. But somehow it's heartbreaking. Are they going to be like Camila and Epifiaño?  
  
It's left to that until Bolivia. When El Santo feeds her the beetle.  
  
The first vision, Guero dies in her arms. Blood everywhere. Complete devastation tears through her body once again. She felt like this when her parents were murdered right in front of her, when she heard of his demise over the phone.  
  
James apologizes then, even though it wasn't his fault.  
  
Then, it's gone. She's waking up in the van again. She warns Guero about the bend, La Capitana’s men. They hide in the trees.  
  
And James, the self sacrificing _cabron_ , goes after the guy that’s shooting at them. But Teresa just lost Guero, even if it was in her mind, she can't actually lose James, she- it would break her, it would be her fault-  
  
“Teresa-” a voice appears behind her, but her mind is spinning, getting blurrier. Tunnel vision. James. Guero.  
  
James.  
  
She’s ready to aim her gun, but it's just him. He's not dead, he saved them again.  
  
“It's me,” he says. “I'm here.” He reaches up-- And they make contact for the first time.  
  
She gasps.  
  
It's like an epiphany, it's like a solved puzzle, it's so beautiful Teresa is sure that she's crying, it's tragically perfect.  
  
She never knew it felt like this. Guero… it's never been like this. Words can’t describe what this is.  
  
James clearly feels it, too. He goes slack for a moment, leaning his forehead against hers. They just bask in it: the connection, the chemistry, it's in their bones. Every blood vessel nearly bursts, every brain cell comes alive, their compounds, their stardust. Nothing exists but them. God Almighty, the universe, they were created-  
  
They were made for each other.  
  
Teresa doesn't know when their lips meet each other's, but more profusely than ever, every particle that makes up their bodies, separate before, now collides together and creates something entirely new.  
  
Everything falls into place.  
  
James is her _alma gemela_. How could she have ever thought it was anybody else?  
  
“There is a Judas among you.”  
  
The blood is back, but now Teresa is sure it must be hers, too, spilling from James’ throat. Her heart is racing so fast she's sure it might tire out and stop completely. This devastation is different. This- This is eating her alive.  
  
“What did you do?!” she screams at him. Guero. The Judas among them.  
  
“Better him than me.”  
  
And her soul no longer binds with James, because there is nothing left.  
  
Teresa must have died at the same time he does.  
  
But instead she wakes up.  
  
Van, driving, Bolivia, El Santo, James, Guero.  
  
James.  
  
James.  
  
It wasn't real.  
  
“A good death.”  
  
Teresa can’t disagree more.  
  
Guero is by her side, in El santo's church, and she knows it wasn't real, but it's still so fresh in her mind that she flinches away from him. He notices. So does James.   
  
But she doesn't touch him.  
  
When they're leaving, El Santo repeats his words from her dream--her vision.  
  
“There is still a Judas among you.”  
  
She knows that now.  
  
After the job is done, after La Capitana is dead, she still doesn't touch James. There's no reason to. There's many reasons not to.  
  
But he finds her.  
  
“What happened in there?” he asks her. They're alone.  
  
Teresa can’t answer at first. There's nothing she can tell him. “Nothing.”  
  
He doesn't buy it. “You remembered it enough to be cuddling up to the rat one moment and practically pushing him away the next.”  
  
He is her soulmate.  
  
Teresa doesn't respond. She knows he's defensive about more than being kept from secrets. She understands.  
  
So she walks over to him, closing the gap, decreasing the distance between their souls and every fiber of their beings. Every thread of their clothing.  
  
He doesn't question it. He must know.  
  
“We've never touched, have we?” Her eyes roam across the only exposed skin on him: his neck, his hands, his face.  
  
James doesn't answer. So she reaches up.  
  
“Wait-" he grabs her wrist tightly. A clothed wrist. Her skin is vibrating. She's waiting. He looks between her eyes. She might be in love with him. “Are you sure you want to find out?”  
  
It's hardly a question. As her soulmate, he should know the answer. He has the same one.  
Of course. Always.  
  
Teresa nods, and brings her other hand up to his cheek, but she stops just centimeters away.  
  
They're soulmates. She knows what he knows. But she wants him to prove it.  
  
They only breathe for a few more moments. They only stare. There's nothing else to do. They wouldn't want there to be.  
  
He leans into her hand.  
  
It's better than she envisioned.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> fandom tumblr: savebellamy  
> main tumblr: purpleheadaches


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